Public service employment has grown by 31 per cent

[Humphrey Bogart]

You could get rid of Canada Post and it wouldn't make a difference. There is an economy for the service and someone will very quickly step in to fill the void.

They will do it cheaper and faster as well.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

But we need to ask ourselves some questions about Canada Post.

How is it that demand for delivery and delivered goods is higher than ever yet Canada Post is losing more money than ever?

Canada Post has a cultural problem and its management is too comfortable for their own good. It's workforce is lazy and entitled.

The person who does Amazon here is a 57 year old Mom who delivers with her pickup truck. She also owns a motel, convenience store and is a HUSTLER. Her son works for me and the entire family has that mentality.

Meanwhile, the Post Office here has a dozen employees and they work bankers hours.

 

[dimsum]

We have PO Boxes here

If Canada Post goes under, you won’t

 

[QV]

But we need to ask ourselves some questions about Canada Post.

How is it that demand for delivery and delivered goods is higher than ever yet Canada Post is losing more money than ever?

Canada Post has a cultural problem and its management is too comfortable for their own good. It's workforce is lazy and entitled.

The person who does Amazon here is a 57 year old Mom who delivers with her pickup truck. She also owns a motel, convenience store and is a HUSTLER. Her son works for me and the entire family has that mentality.

Meanwhile, the Post Office here has a dozen employees and they work bankers hours.

My wild guess is that the more important things that Canada Post used to deliver are now electronic (direct deposits, emailed invoices, vs cheques in the mail... flyers and magazines vs online ads and subscriptions)... and the parcel business, which the private sector seems to have latched onto, is a booming because you can't make that electronic. Canada Post didn't pivot enough.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

If Canada Post goes under, you won’t

Only thing I get is flyers and a bunch of other bs in there.

Canada Post isn't going to go under because the Govt will keep it on drip.

My wild guess is that the more important things that Canada Post used to deliver are now electronic (direct deposits, emailed invoices, vs cheques in the mail... flyers and magazines vs online ads and subscriptions)... and the parcel business, which the private sector seems to have latched onto, is a booming because you can't make that electronic. Canada Post didn't pivot enough.

They don't want to pivot. The people that work there aren't hustlers, they aren't trying to make $$$.

 

[Good2Golf]

Think about it logically

The closest anything to my place is 2+hrs away. There are around 3500 people in the village I live in and surrounding area. Delivery is big business here and the people that do it are making big money. We pay a premium for convenience up here.

Which is a decent concentration to support business cases for Amazon, or FedEx or UPS or Purolator or CPKC or Bison or Manitoulin or others to supply communities like yours, HB, so you’ll continue to get the service that’s worth it to you and others in your community…and for cheaper than Canada Post’s costs.

 

[McG]

It would be interesting to see this chart if it started from 1984 (start of Mulroney tenure) for a 40 year projection.
View attachment 89255

I might have found it.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Surprised/ not surprised...

Government job-growth rate in Canada vastly outstrips private sector​

Across Canada, government employment has exploded, dwarfing job-growth numbers in the private sector and raising serious questions about the affordability of this government hiring spree.

Specifically, according to our new study, from 2019 to 2023 employment in the government sector (which includes federal, provincial and local governments nationwide) increased by 13.3 per cent compared to just 3.6 per cent in the private sector (including self-employment).

Among the provinces, during the same four-year period, the number of government jobs in British Columbia grew by 22 per cent (the highest percentage in the country) compared to just 0.5 per cent in the private sector. In Ontario, the number of government jobs grew by 14.6 per cent compared to 4.8 per cent in the private sector. Eight out of the 10 provinces experienced a faster rate of job growth in the government sector than in the private sector over the four-year period. Alberta was the only large province where the private sector had a faster rate of job growth (7.2 per cent) than the government sector (4.4 per cent).

Moreover, during the four-year period, almost half of the total job growth in the Canadian economy took place in the government sector. As a result, the number of government jobs (as a share of total employment) increased by 21.1 per cent. In case you’re wondering, you can reasonably attribute this growth in government to the pandemic as most of the growth occurred post-COVID. As a result, government employment (again, as a share of total employment) in 2022 and 2023 was higher than at any point since the start of the fiscal reforms of the early 1990s.

So, why is this a problem?

Because the private sector pays for the public sector including the wages and salaries of government employees. And when you increase the size of the government-sector workforce, you increase the strain on government finances. If the share of workers employed by government continues to grow, the government must extract more money from the private sector to pay for a growing government wage bill—either in the form of higher taxes today or new debt that must be either repaid or financed indefinitely by future taxpayers. That’s the last thing taxpayers need, considering the state of government finances across the country. The federal government, for example, expects to run budget deficits of at least $20 billion for the next five years.

Government job-growth rate in Canada vastly outstrips private sector

In Ontario, the number of government jobs grew by 14.6 per cent compared to 4.8 per cent in the private sector.

www.fraserinstitute.org

 

[Remius]

Surprised/ not surprised...

Government job-growth rate in Canada vastly outstrips private sector​

Across Canada, government employment has exploded, dwarfing job-growth numbers in the private sector and raising serious questions about the affordability of this government hiring spree.

Specifically, according to our new study, from 2019 to 2023 employment in the government sector (which includes federal, provincial and local governments nationwide) increased by 13.3 per cent compared to just 3.6 per cent in the private sector (including self-employment).

Among the provinces, during the same four-year period, the number of government jobs in British Columbia grew by 22 per cent (the highest percentage in the country) compared to just 0.5 per cent in the private sector. In Ontario, the number of government jobs grew by 14.6 per cent compared to 4.8 per cent in the private sector. Eight out of the 10 provinces experienced a faster rate of job growth in the government sector than in the private sector over the four-year period. Alberta was the only large province where the private sector had a faster rate of job growth (7.2 per cent) than the government sector (4.4 per cent).

Moreover, during the four-year period, almost half of the total job growth in the Canadian economy took place in the government sector. As a result, the number of government jobs (as a share of total employment) increased by 21.1 per cent. In case you’re wondering, you can reasonably attribute this growth in government to the pandemic as most of the growth occurred post-COVID. As a result, government employment (again, as a share of total employment) in 2022 and 2023 was higher than at any point since the start of the fiscal reforms of the early 1990s.

So, why is this a problem?

Because the private sector pays for the public sector including the wages and salaries of government employees. And when you increase the size of the government-sector workforce, you increase the strain on government finances. If the share of workers employed by government continues to grow, the government must extract more money from the private sector to pay for a growing government wage bill—either in the form of higher taxes today or new debt that must be either repaid or financed indefinitely by future taxpayers. That’s the last thing taxpayers need, considering the state of government finances across the country. The federal government, for example, expects to run budget deficits of at least $20 billion for the next five years.

Government job-growth rate in Canada vastly outstrips private sector

In Ontario, the number of government jobs grew by 14.6 per cent compared to 4.8 per cent in the private sector.

www.fraserinstitute.org

Yep. Government sector also includes the CAF and police, fire etc

 

[captloadie]

While I think 80% of the time, private delivery companies are better than Canada Post, the mindset that HB speaks too, that hustle to make more money, is at times the biggest drawback of private companies when compared to CP. Canada Post is concerned about providing a service, and are mandated to provide that service. Private delivery companies are concerned about profit, and service is a second thought.
I've lived in a couple of smaller communities where the big names (FED EX, UPS, Purolator) provided horrendous service. Leaving things at the wrong address, just leaving delivery slips because packages were to bulky/heavy, damaging packages/contents as they toss them from the truck onto the lawn. Needing to pick up parcels at a central depot over an hour away, and only between certain office hours. Its all about productivity at low cost, meaning drivers are pressured to spend minimal time at each stop.
Even when Canada post can't/won't deliver a package, I have local options to pick up items like at SDM in the evenings.
I will give Amazon kudos though, at least in my area. When it is their contracted service delivering (as opposed to CP or a big name delivery company), things arrive when they say they will, and are put on the front porch, out of the rain, with proof of delivery.

 

[dimsum]

Canada Post is concerned about providing a service, and are mandated to provide that service. Private delivery companies are concerned about profit, and service is a second thought.

I think that is a great point.

Certain things should not be profit-based, because for-profit companies will always aim to cut out something that doesn’t provide profit.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Yep. Government sector also includes the CAF and police, fire etc

How much has the CAF added to the growth of Federal employees during JTs tenure ?

 

[Remius]

How much has the CAF added to the growth of Federal employees during JTs tenure ?

No clue. But the article is talking about all public sector. Municipal and provincial included.

 

[Halifax Tar]

No clue. But the article is talking about all public sector. Municipal and provincial included.

I know you don't know. Its was rhetorical.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

While I think 80% of the time, private delivery companies are better than Canada Post, the mindset that HB speaks too, that hustle to make more money, is at times the biggest drawback of private companies when compared to CP. Canada Post is concerned about providing a service, and are mandated to provide that service. Private delivery companies are concerned about profit, and service is a second thought.
I've lived in a couple of smaller communities where the big names (FED EX, UPS, Purolator) provided horrendous service. Leaving things at the wrong address, just leaving delivery slips because packages were to bulky/heavy, damaging packages/contents as they toss them from the truck onto the lawn. Needing to pick up parcels at a central depot over an hour away, and only between certain office hours. Its all about productivity at low cost, meaning drivers are pressured to spend minimal time at each stop.
Even when Canada post can't/won't deliver a package, I have local options to pick up items like at SDM in the evenings.
I will give Amazon kudos though, at least in my area. When it is their contracted service delivering (as opposed to CP or a big name delivery company), things arrive when they say they will, and are put on the front porch, out of the rain, with proof of delivery.

I personally think most of Canada Post's problem is it's Union. I am pretty against Public Sector Unions, mostly because the Government isn't subject to market forces, and the checks and balances that exist in the private sector for Unions don't exist in the Public Sector.

 

[Remius]

I personally think most of Canada Post's problem is its Union. I am pretty against Public Sector Unions, mostly because the Government isn't subject to market forces and the checks and balances that exist in the private sector for Unions don't exist in the Public Sector.

That particular union needs crushing

 

[Halifax Tar]

That particular union needs crushing

I'm hard pressed to think of a union that doesn't need crushing. PSAC should be next.

 

[Remius]

I know you don't know. Its was rhetorical.

Right. Point is those sort of articles are selective about the data they use and how they present it.

 

[Remius]

I'm hard pressed to think of a union that doesn't need crushing. PSAC should be next.

No argument from me I’m no fan of them either.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Right. Point is those sort of articles are selective about the data they use and how they present it.

Its also the Fraser Institute. So take that for what its worth.

Either way show me the numbers. Because while you might be right by definition, having read what I could get from it on DWAN the spirit of it wasn't CAF, LEOs and FFs. But hey, show me the numbers. Maybe I am off on the spirit of it too, and they think we have too many CAF members, FFs and LEOs.